Election bonanza comes at a cost

I HOPE you like voting if you live in Birmingham – because you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to cast your ballot this year.

I HOPE you like voting if you live in Birmingham – because you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to cast your ballot this year.

As well as the regular local elections taking place in May, there’s a referendum on creating a directly-elected mayor, due to take place on the same day.

Then in November there’s the election of a Police and Crime Commissioner to scrutinise the work of West Midlands Police.

And November might also see the election for the mayor itself if people vote “yes” in the earlier referendum.

But how much does all this cost?

MP Steve McCabe (Lab Selly Oak) has been asking questions and got the answer out of the government.

Across the country, elections for police and crime commissioners cost up to £75 million, while the referenda for mayors in 11 big cities will cost £2.5 million. At the same time, a review of Parliamentary boundaries – which will reduce the number of seats in Birmingham from ten to nine – is costing £11.9 million.